I’ve also been one to believe the saying “you’ll never know unless you try” which is why I think I have so many reach schools on my list, I’ve only kept them there if I really think I’d enjoy being there but still I have so many? Any tips?
Your list may magically shrink once you see how much work some of these applications require. 
Hard to provide advice without knowing the size of your list and the breakdown between reaches, matches, likelies/safeties.
“You’ll never know unless you try” should come well after matching yourself to what they look for. Without that, silly. And of course, what you want. Just remember, they do the choosing. Make your list make sense, be reasonable.
Don’t look at acceptance rates. Consider rejection rates. You could, maybe, be in that 5%, but it’s overwhelmingly likely you’ll be in the 95%.
Browse CC and read all the “I ended up at my safety and hated it”, “I got into a school I can’t afford”, “I got in nowhere” or even “why didn’t I get in?” threads. They’re wake up calls for sure.
Start with your budget. If there are some absolutely unaffordable ones you might want to cut those.
Do a self inventory: What is special about you? In what ways do you stand out from other likely applicants to various schools?
After that – look at the reach colleges and figure out which ones you will stand out in some way-- particularly a way that might be valued by the college. Narrow your list down to the ones where you are more likely to stand out.
This can be something you have done or accomplished, but it can also be something that is related to qualities like your personal background or geographic location.
Imagine you’re apply to schools 30 years ago when each application had to be typed out and different essays written for each school. If your prep school guidance counselor didn’t tell you you had a shot at HYPS, or you were a top student at your public high school, but you’re not the most brilliant, well-read person you’ve ever known, then it wouldn’t even occur to you to apply to those schools.
Look for schools that will give you what you’re looking for and that are within your budget and apply based on that criteria. Just apply to schools that you would actually want to attend (and you have real reasons for wanting to attend them other than it would be cool to get an acceptance)
“Budget” and affordability mean: run the NPC for each college- Net Price Calculator, usually on the school’s fin aid web page. Unless your parents are self employed or run a business or are divorced, it shlould give an idea of fin aid and what you’d be asked to pay. Do this and someone on CC can help you translate if any results are confusing.
Uh, my list is legitimately 90 schools long, nearly 50 schools lower than it was when I began. There are 22 safety schools, 32 matches, 33 reaches, and 3 undetermined. TRUST ME I KNOW THIS IS A PROBLEM.
The problem is budget really isn’t the main consideration, for instance: my dad wants me to go USC.
90 colleges is a book, not a reasonable list. A “list” isn’t every college out there. You work your way through, intelligently, whittle it down to maybe 8-12 or 15. You want 3 types: probably will admit me, might admit me if the stars line up, and long shot that rejects more than it takes.
What are your stats (gpa and scores,) is your courseload the most rigorous? We need this, to start.
You can be looking up the colleges’ info about the stats of successful applicants.
ANd plenty of Dads- and Moms- like certain colleges. That doesn’t mean you can get in…or that he understands the costs.
Start by finding which 2-4 of your affordable safeties are your favorite ones.
Remove all colleges which are less desirable that your favorite safeties, whether the removal candidates are safety, match, or reach.
You can start by establishing some criteria – what do you think you want to study (possible major)? How do you feel about college environment – urban, suburban, rural ? warm climate vs. cold? large university vs. medium size vs. small LAC? general campus culture: social factors, political, religious, etc? Do you want a school with a big sports scene, school spirit, etc? Greek life (fraternities or sororities)? What about geography – distance from home? states/ regions that you would like to spend time in vs. areas you would rather avoid?
Also, check if your desired majors are competitive admission after you enroll at the school.
Get a copy of Fiske and read about them. I’d suggest limiting to 3 reaches, 3 matches, 2 safeties, and 2-3 “parent choices” like USC. Visit where you can. But focus your visits more on the matches & safeties to be sure you like them.
Safetyschools mean even your GPA is 0.25 lower, you should get in no problem. You only need one safety school to accept you. Having 22 saftey schools with 15 accepting you, you create another big problem, which one you attend. If one have 3 saftey schools but get rejected by all 3, the person has poor judgement and understanding of himself/herself. He/She doesn’t deserve to go to any reach school. My tip for safety school. University of Oregon.
You WILL know before you try. Schools won’t magically change their entrance requirements, their location, their cost, their majors, their neighborhoods, their focus, between now and the fall.
A list of 90 schools is a far cry from “legitimate.”
Narrow down your list first in terms of the tangibles-- your major, the cost, the entrance requirements. Then start to think about intangibles like “fit.”
But first, get a list of safeties you WILL get into, you CAN afford ,and you WOULD enjoy attending. Then tackle the rest of your list.
The good news is that it’s easier to eliminate schools than to find them.
You have some work ahead of you.
Totally agree with @calmom. Thing hard about location, city vs rural, size of campus and you’ll eliminate a bunch just that way. Someone who wants the feel of Dartmouth isn’t going to be happy at U Penn. Look beyond the rankings and perceived “prestige”. You want to get down to no more than 15 schools, and I would argue even that is too many to try to have fabulous application to each.
Honestly. The best first review of the 90 should be a financial one. If you have a budget and not zero efc please look at this first. If you will need merit check to see if your stats match their merit standards. Many schools have none or very competitive scholarships for 10 to 15 students.
Also check to see oos public school’s policies. These schools can be very expensive. Have a conversation with your parents. They may say don’t worry about it until they hear at its 50k a year for them and they faint. Please have an honest conversation. It’s hard and parents want the best but it’s just too important to play the pride game. Honesty with each of her and understanding and lack of judgement will serve you well.
There is nothing more sad for a parent than to read the pleading cc’er post for options because they landed a spot in their absolute number one and can’t go because of cost. And they are forced to attend somewhere they believe (entirely falsely imho) is an awful school at the level of an existential crisis.
Have fun and be realistic from the outset